In 2008, the Republican candidate was defeated in a close race. The party was demoralized even before the election. Who has the ability to restore the party? Let's look at some of the potential presidential candidates.
Bob Corker, US Senator, Tennessee
Aside from being a US Senator he was also a former mayor of Chatanooga. Corker was narrowly elected to the senate defeating Harold Ford Jr. He is fairly conservative. He has said he is interested in running. The problem is that he has no name recognition outside of Tennessee. He has a lot of potention but he is still not even a rising star yet. I really don't think Corker is the guy who will rebuild the party.
Joe Scarborough, Former Congressman, Florida
He is a former congressman and now the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC and has his own radio show. Although he is pro-life and conservative on many issues, he has moderated his views so that he won't get fired from a liberal network. He has angered people in the GOP establishment at times. I am intrigued by Scarborough, but not sure I would support him.
Neut Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House, Georgia
He is a jack-of-all-trade, being a politician, professor and history buff. While he was generally liked by conservatives he is divorced and remarried. Many object to his cozy relations with the Clintons. He frequenty visited Hilary when she was in the Senate. He was a guest at the Obama White House. Dick Morris worked both for Gingrich and for Clinton at the same time. He is a bit of a political opportunist. If he were the nominee, I would support him, but it is not my first choice.
Gary Johnson, Former Governor, New Mexico
His views are very similar to Ron Paul. He is a big supporter of legalization fo drugs. He is pro-choice but believes that the abortion issue should be decided by states. I am not ready to support him but would look closely at him were he to run.
Ron Paul, Congressman, Texas
He is a libertarian and has quiter a following with libertarian minded people and independent evengelicals. Pau does not have what it takes to be president. Shoudl he be president? Maybe, but that's not how it works. He does not have the ability to put together a winning coalition.
Mike Huckabee, Former Governor, Arkansas
He was also a Baptist minister. When he ran in 2008, he had the support of many evangelicaqls who felt they did not have a voice with the other candidates. Huckabee was one of the few Republicans who recognized that Bush was unpopular and distanced himself from him. In straw poles, Huckabee had come out on top. It has recently been revealed that the killer in Washington state had been pardoned by Mike Huckabee. This may have killed any chance he has of being president.
Jim Demint, Senator, South Carolina
Hs in the Senate. the leading conservative voices in the Senate. He has been a key opposition leader to many of Obamas p[ropgrams. His views are very saimilar to mine on many issues. I would definietly consider supSOuth DHIM IF HE RUNS>
John Thune, Senator, South Dakota
He shocked everyone when he defeated Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. Like Demint, he has become a key conservative leader. There are rumours that Thune is the candidate that the Obama administer does not want to run against. The only downside is that he is from a small state. I think he is an impressive candidate.
Sarah Palin, Former Governor, Alaska
When she was picked to be McCain's running mate, no one knew who she was. She quickly won the hearts of many conservatives. Everyone else was very puzzled by her. She was conservative, independent and a little quirky. I really like her at first. I did not like that she decided to speak out on every issue. Many times she spoke out on issues she did not have all the fact on, such as the Miss California incident. I think she should have served out her whole term as governor. I don't think she is ready to be president. I could accept her as a vice-presidential candidate. Michael Savage believes that only a Romney/Palin ticket can beat Obama in 2012.
Mit Romney, Former Governor, Massachusetts
He is a businessman, and was the head of the Utah Olympic Committee. I think Romney may be the best hope for the Republicans in 2012. He is an expert on finances and the economy. Romney won the Michigan primary by running on the economy. Economy is what voters are concerned about. If he can convince voters that he is better for the economy that Obama he has a chance. Conservatives are concerned by the fact he is a Mormon and some believe he is not conservative enough, He was pro-choice and switched to pro-life just before he announced his candidacy. Romney has been around but not annoyingly so. He takes interviews occasionally but does not blitz his presence. I think he has the potential of being the next Ronald Reagan. While I am not totally on the Romney bandwagon, I am close to it.
When Discernment Goes Bad
We live in a time in American Christianity where there are Christian books, music, DVDs, Bible studies, you name it. They are independent, not answering to any church. Many of these are not necessarily doctrinally correct. Using Romans 14 and Matthew 18:1-2, people say we have no right to judge other ministries. A back lash has ensued and ministries committed to discernment have arisen. They seek to expose false doctrine. Many targets for discernment are the word of faith movement, emergent church, seeker sensitive and mega-churches. Several ministries like Jan Merkell's "Understanding the Times" and Todd Freole's "Wretched Radio" seem to major in discernment ministries.
Discernment is designed to call attention to teaching that is not line with orthodox Christianity. The problem is, many times it becomes personal. What appears to be a blatant act of blasphemy may just be a misunderstanding. What began as a well-meaning call to doctrinal purity may turn into character assassinations.
There is a difference between intended heresies and misunderstandings. No Christian has doctrine totally right. We all have our pet issues that, if insulted, we take personay. We must make sure our motives are right. We must correct error in love, not hate. At times Jan Merkell and Todd Freole come off as hateful. Exposing false doctrine should be done out of love for the truth, not to destroy. Too many times, mountains have been made out of molehills.
How do you deal with false doctrine without being hateful? Matthew 18 says that if you are offended with a fellow believer, you go to that person and discuss it with them in private. If he fails to listen to you,. you go back with one or two witnesses. If he still won't listen, then you take it to the church. If he won't listen to the church then he is to be considered an infidel. Because of geographical differences and corporations make it difficult to do this. But that does not give us licence to attack others on a radio program. To many times discernment is an excuse to attack. Some ministries exist with the express purpose of exposing false doctrine. We must not become MacArthyists looking for heretics under every bush.
I write this because I am very disturbed by this trend of discernment to become hateful. We do need to stand for truth, but it must be in a godly way. The Roman orator Cicero said that in time of war the law falls silent. Although Christianity is under attack from all sides, the Bible must not fall silent but influence all we do.
Discernment is designed to call attention to teaching that is not line with orthodox Christianity. The problem is, many times it becomes personal. What appears to be a blatant act of blasphemy may just be a misunderstanding. What began as a well-meaning call to doctrinal purity may turn into character assassinations.
There is a difference between intended heresies and misunderstandings. No Christian has doctrine totally right. We all have our pet issues that, if insulted, we take personay. We must make sure our motives are right. We must correct error in love, not hate. At times Jan Merkell and Todd Freole come off as hateful. Exposing false doctrine should be done out of love for the truth, not to destroy. Too many times, mountains have been made out of molehills.
How do you deal with false doctrine without being hateful? Matthew 18 says that if you are offended with a fellow believer, you go to that person and discuss it with them in private. If he fails to listen to you,. you go back with one or two witnesses. If he still won't listen, then you take it to the church. If he won't listen to the church then he is to be considered an infidel. Because of geographical differences and corporations make it difficult to do this. But that does not give us licence to attack others on a radio program. To many times discernment is an excuse to attack. Some ministries exist with the express purpose of exposing false doctrine. We must not become MacArthyists looking for heretics under every bush.
I write this because I am very disturbed by this trend of discernment to become hateful. We do need to stand for truth, but it must be in a godly way. The Roman orator Cicero said that in time of war the law falls silent. Although Christianity is under attack from all sides, the Bible must not fall silent but influence all we do.
My Writings
There have been questions about whether I actually wrote the post about styles of preaching. One commenter implied that it was really Emily that wrote it and I took the credit. Another person said it was cut and paste and not an original post by me. Let me assure this was to cut and pasted but was my own thoughts. There was some criticism that it could have had more information. Maybe it could have. The purpose of that post was to be a survey of preaching styles not an exposition. The purpose was to expose readers to different styles of preaching.
I am a bad speller, I admit it. I am bad at punctuation and grammar. I have never been diagnosed with any learning disability such as dyslexia, but there is a good chance I may have some sort of learning disability. The teachers at the elementary school I attended wanted me to be tested by the state for learning disabilities. My Dad was a proud man who did not want to accept that his son might have a learning disability and was paranoid of the government. He refused to let me be tested. To combat this problem all of my papers at school and blog posts are typed by Emily. I write out the posts on paper, then dictate it to her. For a while I wrote my own blog posts. My blog is just for fun. I enjoy writing and like to have my thoughts out there. It was originally intended for friends and family. I am glad other people are reading it though, but I do not like that people are reading it to pick my life apart. I do not like these accusations.
I hope what I have said will be taken to heart. I appreciate this opportunity to set the record straight.
I am a bad speller, I admit it. I am bad at punctuation and grammar. I have never been diagnosed with any learning disability such as dyslexia, but there is a good chance I may have some sort of learning disability. The teachers at the elementary school I attended wanted me to be tested by the state for learning disabilities. My Dad was a proud man who did not want to accept that his son might have a learning disability and was paranoid of the government. He refused to let me be tested. To combat this problem all of my papers at school and blog posts are typed by Emily. I write out the posts on paper, then dictate it to her. For a while I wrote my own blog posts. My blog is just for fun. I enjoy writing and like to have my thoughts out there. It was originally intended for friends and family. I am glad other people are reading it though, but I do not like that people are reading it to pick my life apart. I do not like these accusations.
I hope what I have said will be taken to heart. I appreciate this opportunity to set the record straight.
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